THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday said it is looking to regulate the presence and participation of social media influencers during the campaign period for the May 2025 national and local polls.
Speaking at the sidelines of the Stakeholders Forum on Artificial Intelligence (AI) organized by the poll body, Comelec chairman George Garcia said they are looking to monitor the participation of social media influencers in helping promote specific candidates and political parties.
“What shall we do with social media influencers, the content creators hired by candidates? That is where we want to establish some form of regulation by the Commission,” said Garcia.
The poll chief said social media influencers should be regulated similar to how other forms of media, such as television, radio, and print, are being regulated during campaign periods.
“What if the content is uploaded for 24 hours on social media? How come only there is a limit of 120 minutes for television?” he pointed out.
Aside from regulating influencers, Garcia said they are also looking at monitoring candidate expenses in hiring social media influencers.
He said this is similar to celebrities and other personalities getting invited to do commercials and guest appearances for candidates.
“Once you hire a celebrity or a known singer or a popular personality during the campaigns, the payment must be reported to us,” said Garcia.
One way to do so, he said, is by partnering with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) in checking the income of social media influencers.
“During the campaign, these social media influencers get paid a huge sum but are not subjected to taxes. These influencers must be taxed,” he said.
Social media influencers are defined as people who have built a reputation for their knowledge and expertise on a specific topic.
Influencers make regular posts about a particular topic on their preferred social media channels and generate large followings.
Meanwhile, the National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) yesterday opposed Comelec’s plan to prohibit the use of artificial intelligence (AI) during the 2025 campaign period.
In a statement, Namfrel said: “Artificial intelligence (AI) is here to stay and it is finding applications in many areas, including elections. The National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections expresses opposition to a ban on the use of AI in elections.”
The poll watchdog said banning AI may curtail technological innovation and inadvertently limit its benefits in enhancing electoral processes.
Namfrel also noted how AI technologies are “rapidly evolving,” which may make regulations ineffective.
It also stressed that banning or regulating the use of AI may infringe on the freedom of speech and expression.
Namfrel also warned that the Comelec may face challenges in enforcing a law banning AI or even regulating it as it shall require expertise and a new set of skills to implement and enforce the law.
Instead of banning or regulation AI, it urged the Comelec to come up with a simpler Code of Conduct for its use during elections.
“The Comelec can draft a Code of Conduct that will embody a set of ethical principles that all election stakeholders will be asked to adhere to,” said Namfrel.
It said that among the ethical principles the Comelec may adopt is transparency, wherein the use of AI in election-related content must be disclosed and appropriately marked.
The organization also said AI-generated content must not infringe on the suffrage, digital, and privacy rights of individuals.
It said the Comelec may encourage candidates and political parties to register their intention to use AI in campaigns and be open to auditing their AI-generated content.
Namfrrel said those that will use AI must ensure truthfulness involving candidates, political parties, and media, and is supported by a clear source of truth fact-checking mechanism.
AI-generated content, it also said, must be subject to review to detect discrimination based on race, gender, age, socio-economic status, religion, or other protected characteristics.
Lastly, it said the Code may provide the Comelec the power to exercise its oversight function over the use of AI in election-related content.
